TOPIC: Overland Ride - Saturday, September 10th

I rode most of the route today, and the conditions were ideal. Of course, it helps that the temps were in the mid 70s with a nice breeze and zero humidity. Hopefully the weather will cooperate on Sept. 10th.

Here's some pictures from today's ride - It might not be singletrack, but boy is it ever fun!

Everyone is finally checking out the Overland trail! I used to ride that when I first started MTB, havn't been there for years though. My brother-in-law had a cabin on Bailey hill road and I used to ride mostly K -Q I think I did C-G once and ventured across 430 to do C-A. I remember the A-C section having some big hills- Maybe I'm just hallucinating about that.
The trail was always fun and the DEC usually kept it up pretty good back then.
There was a dog that would always chase me on Eggleston Hill rd between L-M every time I rode there. That dog was fast!

I'm gonna ride most of the route tomorrow morning to check it out for blowdowns and for any other issues. Unfortunately, there is a rather large blowdown past point R that took out one of the bridges. I notified the DEC, so hopefully it'll be cleared up soon.

I'm putting together a 45-50 mile ride on the Westside Overland trail in Chautauqua County. It would begin and end at the Chautauqua Gorge State Forest, which is an excellent place to have a cookout once we return. There are plenty of fire pits, and there's a sweet hiking trail that leads down to the gorge itself.

The ride itself covers the best sections of both the Chautauqua Rails to Trails and the Westside Overland Trail. If you've never ridden the Overland Trail, it is an out-and-back trail that can best be described as doubletrack that winds its way through some beautiful woods complete with stream crossings, roots, and plenty of short and steep climbs with some really fun and flowy downhill sections. The trail is super fun, and it can be ridden on a hardtail or a full suspension, but anything over four or five inches of travel would be serious overkill. There is a lean-to/camping area just past the mid-point of the ride; it has a outhouse and a sweet hand-pump that provides some cold and refreshing water to refill bottles or hydration packs. Depending on how everyone feels, we can ride all the way to the end of the Overland (Point S), or we could turn back at the parking lot (Point Q). I feel that the best section of the ride is from point R to point S, so I'm all for riding the whole thing.

As for the route itself: we'd begin at Point A and ride to Point B. From there, we'd get on the Rails to Trails on Summerdale Road and ride it for a good four miles until we reached Titus Road. The Chautauqua Rails to Trails is actually a really scenic trail - certain sections put you up on a ridge-line with a steep ravine on each side. We'd then ride the road for about 3.5 miles to Bates Road and get on the Overland there. The rest of the ride would be on the Overland to Point S and then back the way we came. We'll ride at a moderate pace.

There are a few folks from NAMBA who've already signed on, and it would be great if some WNYMBA'ers joined in on the fun. Since the ride is quite long, you'll want to bring some food (a couple energy bars or a sandwich would probably work), water (duh), and some GUs or Shot Bloks. Although the ride isn't super demanding, it is important that you have enough gas in your tank to ride 45-50 miles (with 8 miles of tarmac); the longest climbs are, surprisingly, on the road (between Titus Road and Bates Road), with the steepest climbs occurring on the Overland (Points L and N). If the weather craps out on us, then the ride will be canceled and maybe rescheduled for sometime in early October.

If you'd like to bring something for the post-ride cookout, then please do so. I'll supply some hot-dogs and buns.

To get a sense of numbers, please RSVP here or shoot me a PM. Weather permitting, the ride will be a really good time with some really nice people.

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